Latest news with #CalAcademy
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Whale deaths in SF Bay Area surge to 14
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Five more gray whales were found dead in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past week, the California Academy of Sciences confirmed Wednesday. So far in 2025, scientists have responded to 14 individual dead whales across the region. On May 21, a yearling gray whale was found dead in Bolinas, according to Cal Academy. Another dead gray whale washed up at Southeast Farallon Island in Fisherman's Bay on May 22. That same day, a dead subadult female gray whale was located in Berkeley. On May 26, two more dead gray whales were found at Point Bonita and Alcatraz Island. Causes of death were not determined for the latest dead whales, Cal Academy said. According to officials, data collection has been challenging 'for a number of cases due to inaccessible locations that hinder full post-mortem investigations, as well as poor tissue quality from advanced decomposition, and the lack of available locations to tow for further investigation.' Three of the 14 dead whales this year were found to have died from suspected vessel strikes, experts with Cal Academy and The Marine Mammal Center said. One minke whale was euthanized in Emeryville after it repeatedly beached itself in the mud during low tides. The number of individual dead gray whales stranded in the Bay Area this year has not been seen since the height of the NOAA-declared 'unusual mortality event' that devastated populations along the west coast between 2019 and 2023, according to experts. The population of eastern North Pacific gray whales dropped 45 percent during that period, Cal Academy said. Earlier this year, scientists in Southern California reported record-low gray whale calf counts, according to the academy. Researchers are investigating what is behind the spike in gray whale sightings within the San Francisco Bay this year. In 2024, only four individuals were spotted. So far in 2025, scientists have photo-identified 33 individual gray whales swimming in the bay. 'Roughly one-third of these whales have stayed in the bay for at least 20 days, and their overall body condition has ranged from normal to emaciated,' Cal Academy said. Experts believe the gray whales will move out of the SF Bay in one or two more weeks as the species continues its northern migration to the Arctic. The public is urged to report whale sightings in the Bay Area through the WhaleAlert app or through The Marine Mammal Center's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Elusive, palm-sized shrew caught on camera for the first time
A palm-sized mammal that lives underground in California has been caught alive on camera for the first time. Three undergraduate students came up with an idea to capture the elusive Mount Lyell shrew, native to the Eastern Sierra Nevada region, as part of their fall 2024 project. Vishal Subramanyan, Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes laid out over 100 traps last November and checked them every two hours, for three days and four nights, to photograph the tiny creatures. "The hardest part of getting the photos was one, they're incredibly fast cuz they're always running around," Subramanyan told CBS News. Another reason the Mount Lynell shrews had never been captured alive on camera is that they have an incredibly fast metabolism, Subramanyan said. When the students learned that this particular animal had never been photographed before, they devised a plan. Researchers have set up similar pitfall traps to capture the shrews, but if they're left in the trap for more than two hours, they'll simply starve to death. That's why Subramanyan, Jain and Forbes had to check their traps every two hours. To take the photos, the students set up a white background on the bottom of a box, using glass on the top so they could photograph through it. They also had a terrarium with soil and mealworms for the shrews. The tiny mammals are active through day and night because they have to constantly feed on insects and arachnids to survive. Another challenge in getting the photos were cold fingers, Subramanyan said. Temperatures in the mountain fell to 15 degrees during the expedition funded with the help of Cal Academy. The students were part of the organization's inaugural California Creators for Nature program that aims to engage people on social media in conversations about nature, climate and environmental justice. In addition to helping raise awareness about the small mammals facing threats from climate change — with 89% projected loss of its habitat by the 2080s, according to UC Berkeley — Subramanyan said his photos will be entered into scientific databases, and they will help make it easier for researchers to identify species of the shrews. AI stocks plunge as China's DeepSeek sends shock wave through Wall Street U.S. troops head to southern border as deportations continue New images of aid reaching Gaza after months of war
CBS News
28-01-2025
- Science
- CBS News
California students capture palm-sized underground mammal alive on camera for the first time
A palm-sized mammal that lives underground in California has been caught alive on camera for the first time. Three undergraduate students came up with an idea to capture the elusive Mount Lyell shrew, native to the Eastern Sierra Nevada region, as part of their fall 2024 project. Vishal Subramanyan, Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes laid out over 100 traps last November and checked them every two hours, for three days and four nights, to photograph the tiny creatures. "The hardest part of getting the photos was one, they're incredibly fast cuz they're always running around," Subramanyan told CBS News. Another reason the Mount Lynell shrews had never been captured alive on camera is that they have an incredibly fast metabolism, Subramanyan said. When the students learned that this particular animal had never been photographed before, they devised a plan. Researchers have set up similar pitfall traps to capture the shrews, but if they're left in the trap for more than two hours, they'll simply starve to death. That's why Subramanyan, Jain and Forbes had to check their traps every two hours. To take the photos, the students set up a white background on the bottom of a box, using glass on the top so they could photograph through it. They also had a terrarium with soil and mealworms for the shrews. The tiny mammals are active through day and night because they have to constantly feed on insects and arachnids to survive. Another challenge in getting the photos were cold fingers, Subramanyan said. Temperatures in the mountain fell to 15 degrees during the expedition funded with the help of Cal Academy. The students were part of the organization's inaugural California Creators for Nature program that aims to engage people on social media in conversations about nature, climate and environmental justice. In addition to helping raise awareness about the small mammals facing threats from climate change — with 89% projected loss of its habitat by the 2080s, according to UC Berkeley — Subramanyan said his photos will be entered into scientific databases, and they will help make it easier for researchers to identify species of the shrews.
